Disclaimer: I have no delusions about owning or holding rights over Newsies, you shouldn't either. Don't sue.
Also, any pop culture references...guess what? Don't own those either. Actually...anything that you may have heard of and/or recognized in this story is owned by someone who isn't me.
Warning:Updates may (and probably will be) slow.
This contains SLASH, in other words same sex couples. If this doesn't appeal to you, you shouldn't be here. It also contains drug use, violence, and sexual situations. This story is marked for mature readers only, please treat it as such
Summary of Chapter 12:
-Spot suggests rehab for Racetrack to Racetrack's mom
-Itey tells Skittery that Spot's the Brooklyn gang leader
-Spot occasionally fucks Slingshot, but there are no feelings involved
-Slingshot goes on a date
-Dutchy and Specs have an argument
-Skittery and Itey tell Mush and Blink the story of how they got together
Getting Back Together Again
XIII
Janitor's Closets and Foursomes
"How was your date?" Speed asked without any real curiosity as he looked around his room for his other shoe. "Did you get lucky?"
Slingshot smirked back as he joined the shoe hunt. "Why? Is there another bet going around? Because if there is I want in on it."
Bam laughed, "Nah man, there's no bet going about this particular situation. Why? Do you think we can only be genuinely interested when there's money involved? Your assumptions hurt."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Slingshot replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Shut up about your stupid-ass feelings and help me find my shoe. Find the matching pair to this one," he demanded, holding up the shoe that he had already found. "Either that, or find me another pair of shoes that'll fit. I'm in a rush; anything will do."
"You went on a date?" Gadget asked, jumping down from the top of one of the bunk beds. "I think I heard about that. It was with a guy, right? So…how did it go?"
"Na-huh," Speed interrupted, "You're too young for this conversation, little buddy. Why don't you go downstairs and play Go Fish or something? I'm sure that'll be fun."
Gadget pouted, "I'm fourteen, not six; I can handle it. Plus, I'm far from innocent. Why can't I hear what happened?"
"Gang or not you're too damn young," Speed insisted, "Why don't you go find Stealth and hang out with him for a little bit? Does that sound good? I'm sure you'll have an super awesome time with him."
"Stealth's creepy," Gadget argued. "The only person he'll ever even remotely talk to is Spot; he just stares at everyone else. Plus, I'm not all that young and I'm not innocent enough to not know what might happen on a date…even if it was two guys instead of a guy and a chick. The only reason you want me out is because you feel like you want to exclude someone."
"That's exactly it," Speed agreed sarcastically. "But just because you called me on it doesn't mean it's going to change things. Get out of here before I kick you out myself."
Gadget scowled, but started to leave the room anyway, "Fine, fine, I'm going. It's not like I won't find out about it later anyway."
"So? What happened?" Bam asked as soon as their door closed behind Gadget. "You get any action? And if so was it from the dude you went on a date with or from Spot when you got home?"
Slingshot rolled his eyes, "God, you act as if Spot and I go at it every night. We've only fucked a dozen or fewer times. It doesn't actually mean something or anything like that; it's stress relief when there's no one better around. And I do that for him; the favor isn't really returned."
"Answer the question," Speed demanded, getting up from the old and slightly tattered chair he was sitting on to help with the shoe-hunt. "Did you fuck your date or did Spot fuck you?"
"Why do you even assume I got some?" Slingshot asked nonchalantly. "God damned shoe, where the hell are you?"
"You were humming this morning, and everyone here knows that when you hum you got laid by someone the night before," Bam pointed out. "Have you checked under the bed?"
"Of course I checked under the bed!" Slingshot answered in exasperation, "That was one of the first places I looked."
"Maybe you didn't look hard enough," Bam offered. "Check again."
"We're getting off track," Speed announced, crawling on the floor and flinging the items that scattered the ground out of his way in his search for the shoe. "Who did the fucking last night and who got fucked? You don't have to be embarrassed or anything; we're all open to homosexual relationships here."
"Well…everyone in this room is at least," Bam finished, "I doubt the majority of the gang would feel the same. Of course, once they find out Spot's gay they might change their tune, but we really shouldn't go risking that. Plus, at least half of them wouldn't believe us anyway."
"Getting off the point again," Speed pointed out, shooting a glare at Bam, "We'll never get it out of him this way."
"I got it!" Bam announced, holding up Slingshot's long lost shoe above his head before quickly scrambling onto one of the top bunks. "Tell us who you had sex with last night or I light this shoe on fire," he threatened, taking out his lighter and flicking it into a flame.
"Tell us, tell us," Speed chanted happily as he kept Slingshot from going anywhere near any of the top bunks.
"I fucked him in the back of an abandoned pick-up truck," Slingshot admittedly angrily, quickly grabbing his shoe as soon as Bam let it drop. "Why the hell did you find it anyway?" he grumbled under his breath, "You weren't even looking."
"An abandoned pick up truck?" Speed repeated.
"Man, that's a little tacky," Bam whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him. "I know I would never take one of my lays to a pick up truck…even if the damn truck was mine."
"Yeah, Sling, was he not up to your standards or something?" Speed asked.
"It was his fucking idea in the first place," Slingshot mumbled as he tugged his shoes on. "Can I go now? Spot wanted to talk to me before he left for school."
"Right, sure, go ahead," Bam granted, jumping down from the bed. "I never really wanted to be seen with someone who fucks people in pick-ups anyway; it's just trashy."
"Tch, I told you he shouldn't have been allowed to go off on his own," Hunter lectured Spot as he stood next to the boy's motorcycle. "He's completely irresponsible…not to mention shady. I seriously don't know why you put up with him. I can only hope there's not a deeper meaning in it."
"What? Like I won't kill him because he rescued me while I was drowning once or something as equally stupid?" Spot scoffed. "I have my own reasons for doing things. More importantly, I can never remember a time when I've needed your permission."
"No, of course not," Hunter replied, trying to placate his boss, "It's just my little, harmless opinion is all."
"I don't ever remember asking for that either," Spot answered, turning around when he felt someone else's presence.
Slingshot walked up to the two, looking as if he was still trying to put his shoes on. "Sorry about the delay, Boss-man; I've got some pretty nosy roommates that kept asking about last night. Anyway, Rambler's all set up. Here's his new cell phone number," he offered, handing over a piece of paper. "He apologizes for the fact that he never informed you he was switching phone numbers; apparently it was a fairly recent change. He said you can call him anytime and he'll be sure to pick up immediately."
"Of course," Spot retorted sarcastically before taking the paper and putting the number into his pocket. "I'll call you if he doesn't follow through with his promise," he informed Slingshot, sounding quite confident in the fact that Rambler wouldn't pick up for him.
"You better go," Hunter advised, checking the time on his wristwatch. "It looks like you're going to be late as it is."
"Are you trying to take on a role as my mother today?" Spot snapped. "And what the hell makes you think I'd really care if I was on time or not? Keep your fucking advice to yourself," he ordered before straddling his motorcycle and rocketing off.
"Well," Hunter replied in mock-offense as soon as he thought that Spot wouldn't be able to hear him, "Someone sure has their cranky pants on today."
Slingshot rolled his eyes but grinned, "Not that you're making it any better, edging him on like that. He seems to be more stressed than normal; maybe you should cut it out for awhile."
"Stressed over what?" Hunter asked. "He not getting laid enough or something?"
"Just tone it down," Slingshot warned, "…Before he decides he's had enough of you and shoots you or something, alright? You're pretty annoying most of the time, but I don't think I want you dead."
"Thanks; you're a great friend," Hunter replied with sarcasm dripping out of his every pore.
Slingshot shrugged with indifference, "I signed on to take care of Spot, not you."
"What ever happened to the rule that we wouldn't let anyone take him for two days in a row? And why the hell did I have to put up with him for two consecutive days?" Bumlets ranted as soon as he met his three friends along their smoking wall.
"Sorry, I could have taken him," Dutchy admitted, not seeming as if he really cared all that much, "But I was so busy and I never stopped by at your house so I didn't ever really even think about it."
"Well someone better take him tonight because if he stays at my house again I can't guarantee that he'll wake up alright in the morning," Bumlets warned, taking out one of his cigarettes. "He's been getting on my nerves even more than usual."
"The ever-patient Bumlets can't handle a few days with Jack," Itey announced. "Wow, that's gotta mean something bad, huh? If Bumlets can't stand him for only a few days what hope is there for the rest of us?"
"Don't make a big deal of it," Bumlets replied, "Jack's just one of those people that pisses me off more than an entire group of feminists could. You know what I'm talking about?"
"Ouch," Jack responded, clutching his chest before grinning. "I never knew you guys hated me so much," he confessed, walking over to them.
"That's just Bumlets," Dutchy answered, "To the rest of us you're more like a gnat or something. You're annoying, sure, but you're so cute we can't bare to smash you between our fingers."
"Ooh, that one was nice," Itey congratulated, "Excellent work, Dutch; you've finally insulted someone without being lame and making us all cringe."
"What are you even doing here, Jack?" Skittery asked. "Don't you think being seen with the druggies will ruin your reputation a bit? Don't you think you should go and leave us the fuck alone?"
"I was looking for Swifty," Jack explained, not at all offended by their insults, "Believe me; the last thing I want to do his hang out with you guys more than I already have to."
"Great," Skittery grumbled, "Now we're being associated with Swifty. Fuck, isn't there some form we have to fill out to let people know it's okay to do that? This whole 'new friends' thing is completely disgusting."
Itey solemnly nodded his head in agreement. "And here I thought we took special precautions to insure that this type of thing never happened. It seems as if all of our well placed plans have been trampled upon."
"Swifty's not here," Skittery told Jack, "And if we had our way he wouldn't ever be, but, alas, the universe seems to hate us."
"…A lot," Dutchy continued.
"…Quite a bit of a lot," Bumlets agreed.
"But (and here's the really cool thing) you can make it immensely better by just getting the hell away from us and taking your little annoying friend with you," Itey advised.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine, I get it; he's not here. You could have just said that in the first place. And, for the record, Swifty does like you guys, regardless of what you all think. It wouldn't kill you to be at least a little less asshole-ish to the guy, right? He's going through a lot of crap right now."
"Oh no," Skittery mocked, "It looks like we got him all wrong! Oh my, and how terrible we all feel about it. Tell you what, you tell him how sorry we all are and then we can all give each other a big hug."
"Look," Jack snapped, "Don't think I don't know why the fuck you're so mean to everyone you meet. When everyone split up, you were the guys left in the dust. The guys no one else wanted to hang out with, so you decided to be real clever and just hang out with each other. Now when anyone even remotely tries to talk to you, you shoot him down before they can reject you. It's not all that complicated. Tell you what, you guys get your heads out of your asses and stop acting like dicks; maybe people might like you a little more."
"Golly gee, what a great analysis of our characters. Is it our turn to do you now?" Itey mocked.
"All you care about is sports," Dutchy broke in with the first thing that came to his mind.
"Swifty's your only real friend and you aren't even hanging out with him any more, thus proving that you care about your fake crowd of friends that don't give a shit about you instead of someone whom worries about you constantly," Skittery told Jack.
"You happily sleep at our houses without so much as a 'thank you' or apology," Bumlets said, "You haven't even thought about getting a real job in order to support yourself. What? Think you can just keep depending on us for the rest of your life?"
"You're so ashamed about everything you are you won't even tell anyone," Itey revealed. "You've made no mention about your parents or your housing situation to anyone besides us and that was only because you needed us to make sure you didn't die out on the street in the middle of the night."
"'Jack Kelly' isn't even your real name," Dutchy pointed out. "What the hell kind of a kid does that? You're real name isn't even all that bad; you just changed it because then people couldn't trace you to your parents as easily."
"When is dear old dad getting out of jail?" Skittery asked.
"Are you going to go visit dear old mom's grave site soon?" Itey questioned.
"Fine, fuck you guys," Jack replied, walking away angrily. "You don't want to help me? Fine. Fuck if I care. I just won't come by and bother you any more. Fuck, sorry if I ruined your lives with my stupid problems."
A few seconds of uncomfortable silence followed, no one really knowing how they should react.
"Wow," Itey finally said, "Is that all it took to get him to leave us alone? We should have done that sooner."
Bumletssmirked, pushing down his guilt. "Yeah, too bad we didn't think of that earlier, huh?"
"I wonder if that'll get anyone else to leave us alone," Skittery wondered.
Racetrack walked into his first period class and slipped into his seat not five seconds before the bell rang. He turned to yell at Sean for yesterday only to discover that he wasn't there.
He wondered if Sean would even be coming to school today for about twenty seconds before the object of his thoughts waltzed in looking smug.
"Where were you?" Racetrack asked as soon as Spot had somehow slipped by the teacher and took his place in his seat.
"Arranging some things," Spot smirked, "I told you you were a lot of work."
"Yeah, Sean, about that... Rehab? What the hell were you thinking?" Racetrack asked in annoyance. "What the hell made you think that'd I'd be okay with going to some fucking rehabilitation clinic?"
"Relax," Spot demanded. "I thought you'd do anything in order to be able to talk to your friends again. Rehab's something you're going to have to do. Am I handling this or not? Because it's more than easy to just ignore the whole idiotic mess you've managed to get yourself into."
Racetrack rolled his eyes, knowing that he didn't have a plan and, more importantly, knowing that Spot knew that he didn't have a plan. "It's all you, just make sure I don't want to kill you by the end of this," he replied.
"Sure you should be threatening someone like me? You're out of your league with that little warning; you can't touch me," Spot pointed out with a smirk.
"You know, people might like you more if you weren't such a complete asshole all the time," Racetrack advised. "That's a little fun fact I learned when I was about two years old."
"Clever," Spot replied, not really looking all that amused. "You know, people might not be such complete assholes to you if you didn't look like you were asking for it all the time. That's another little fun fact."
"Can you come over Saturday?" Racetrack asked, changing the subject as soon as he remembered that his mom agreed to have Sean over. "If we're lucky I can get out of the house and then I can go hang out with Mush and Blink."
"I never remember that being part of the deal," Spot answered, "I've got better things to do than pretend to be the best of friends with you."
"I'll give you fifty bucks," Racetrack promised. "And all you have to do is try to convince my mom to let us go out. Once that happens you can go off and do whatever it is you usually do on Saturdays."
"Give me the money up front and you've got yourself a deal," Spot bargained nonchalantly. "You can think of it as me doing you yet another favor."
Racetrack sighed in exasperation, knowing that even though Spot was doing him all these 'favors' he would eventually have to repay him. "Fine," he agreed, "I'll give you the money by the end of the school day. Come to my house around noon, okay?"
Spot smirked, "We can talk once I see the money."
Racetrack rolled his eyes, not really all that surprised by his reply at this point and wondering where he could get his hands on fifty bucks by the end of eighth period.
Second period found Racetrack in his new seat across the room from Mush and Blink, hunched over his desk, and scribbling something out on a piece of paper. Within a moment he straightened up and read through it. Looking satisfied with his work he crumbled it up and threw it. Immediately he took out some homework from his last class and tried to look busy.
"You think they'll actually want to come?" Blink asked Mush, looking doubtful. "Skittery and Itey don't seem like the type of people who would like the ballet. I don't have a problem with them coming, but I don't really want to get made fun of throughout the entire thing either."
"We'll never know until we try," Mush pointed out. "Plus, they're our friends; we should try and include them even if they might not like what we're doing. And I'm sure if we ask them to not make fun of us for going to the Nutcracker they won't."
"Yeah, alright, I guess we can give it a chance," Blink relented, not really caring too much if Skittery found another thing to make fun of him for (he just didn't want him interrupting the Nutcracker to do it). "We'll ask them after-" Blink started a bit as something lightly hit him in the head.
Mush picked up the crumbled piece of paper curiously before looking around the classroom in confusion and seeing no one who was looking in their direction. "Who do you think threw this?"
Blink shrugged. "I don't know. Is it just a blank paper or is it a note? Open it up."
"It says 'Meet me by the water fountain'," Mush read before looking over at Racetrack's new desk and discovering him missing. "You think it was Race? Should we go now?"
"Yeah," Blink decided. "It'll be pretty important if he's risking more punishment from his mom to talk to us."
"You think he found a way to hang out with us again?" Mush asked excitedly as he got up from his seat and started walking towards the door.
"Maybe," Blink answered as he followed beside Mush. "If he hasn't we should try asking Skittery and Itey for advice when we talk to them today. If anything they could relay messages from us to Race and vice versa…if they'll agree to it anyway."
"I knew we'd be able to work something out," Mush replied excitedly as they approached the water fountain nearest their second period room.
Blink looked around, "Where is he? Do you think he meant another water fountain? Maybe it wasn't even Race who sent the note."
"Well, someone sent the note," Mush pointed out, "So someone should be here even if it wasn't for us."
"Think we should try the restroom?" Blink asked, nodding his head to the men's room located not even ten feet from the water fountain. "Maybe he decided that it'd be best if we met out of sight."
Mush smiled, already heading into the bathroom, "It's worth a try."
"Hey guys," Racetrack greeted as soon as his two friends came into view, "Sorry about all the cryptic stuff; I guess I'm a little paranoid about my mom. Anyway, I'm glad you guys found me."
"So what's up?" Mush asked eagerly, "Did you find a way to go around your mom so you can hang out with us again?"
"Kind of," Racetrack answered, "But it's still in the planning stages…I guess. Look, uh…I know this may sound kind of weird but…do you guys have any extra money with you that I can borrow? I swear I'll pay you back."
"Sure," Mush replied without any hesitation, "How much do you need?"
"Uh…like…forty I think," Racetrack answered, knowing that he already had ten dollars in his locker.
Blink fished around in his pocket for a while before bringing out a twenty-dollar bill and handing it over to Racetrack. "I've got twenty. I can check my locker, but I don't think I have anymore."
"I have…fifteen," Mush announced after counting all the one-dollar bills that he had dug out from his pocket. "We could check my car; I might have enough change in there to come to five dollars."
"Thanks guys," Racetrack replied with a relieved smile. "I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I possibly can."
"Don't worry about it," Blink answered for both him and Mush, "Keep it for the next time you can sneak off to go to the racetrack. Think of it as our 'fuck you' gift to your mom."
Mush smiled when Racetrack looked at him questioningly. "We're friends; you don't have to worry about a few bucks," he backed up, "Plus, I'm sure you've spent more than that on us for gas money and food."
Racetrack beamed, "You guys are the best. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."
Mush beamed right back, "It's what friends do. When do you need the money? We can look in my car during lunch if you want to. Or right now? I don't really know how you want to go about this…with your mom and all."
Blink laughed, "You know Mush loves you when he volunteers to sneak out of school in the middle of the day for you."
"I don't want Racetrack to get into even more trouble for hanging out with us," Mush explained. "If I go to my car now you two can just wait in the bathroom and that way we won't have to worry about trying to meet up again."
"I don't want to get you into any trouble though," Racetrack confessed. "I feel bad enough making you both sneak out of class to meet me. You've already gave me enough money anyway; I'm sure I can scrape together another five bucks."
"It's just straight here and back," Mush insisted, "And then you can be sure you have enough money for…for…whatever it is that you need it for."
"While we're on the subject…what do you need it for?" Blink asked with curiosity.
"It doesn't matter," Mush answered. "I'll go out to my car and get that money," he promised before getting ready to leave the bathroom.
Racetrack seized his arm quickly and dragged him back a few paces. "Mush? What's with you? I appreciate the money and everything but the rest I need isn't that big of a deal. I'm sure if I looked around on the cafeteria floor during lunch I would find at least five dollars in quarters."
"But it's no big deal for me to run out into my car and get it," Mush answered before pulling out of Racetrack's light grip and scurrying off. "Just stay here; I'll be right back."
Racetrack turned to Blink, "That was weird, right? I mean, it can't just be me, right?"
Blink shrugged while his face held distinct confusion. "He was fine this morning. Maybe it's nothing; maybe he's just eager to help because he wants us all to hang out again."
"Yeah, maybe," Racetrack replied, sounding as if he didn't believe that excuse for even a tenth of a second.
"So?" Skittery asked as soon as he saw Itey in his Algebra class. "How am I doing so far? Is it just me, or am I doing a fucking fantastically good job? I mean, just look at how normal I've been acting."
Itey grinned happily. "Yeah, you're acting super normal, which is such a big surprise considering how crazy you usually are. Now no one will suspect you," he replied sarcastically before sitting down beside his friend.
"Wow, Itey, that one really tore the pants right off of me (and I know that's what you really wanted)," Skittery mock-congratulated, showing off a smile that clearly stated he wasn't amused. "Whatever happened to the promise that we wouldn't make fun of each other, and we'd save all our insulting comments and snide remarks for other people, you bastard?"
"Sorry. I'm sorry," Itey apologized right away, "I just couldn't resist. Plus, I had no idea what you were talking about so I decided to cover it up by making fun of you."
"Ah, what our insecurities make us do. Still, it's no excuse to go insulting and hurting other people's feelings. There's a right time and a wrong time to do that sort of thing; the right time being whenever we're with anyone else and the wrong time being whenever we're talking just to each other," Skittery sarcastically lectured. "Anyway, I was talking about the whole…mmm…situation," Skittery tried to explain.
"Oh, that whole thing," Itey laughed, "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, you can say his name. I'm almost positive he won't jump out of the woodwork and try to kill us or anything like that."
"Yeah, but what about the people who are listening?" Skittery asked in a purposely loud whisper, "We don't want anyone else to find out about this; it could end badly if it starts to spread around."
"No one would believe it anyway," Itey replied, copying the loud whisper Skittery used as they attracted more and more attention (loud whispers always seemed to attract people's attention like flies to a piece of shit; it was pretty fucking annoying, but kind of fun at times as well).
"I know, that's true, but still," Skittery stage-whispered back, "I don't want anyone thinking anything about us. As if there won't be enough rumors going on already later on. And…and I'm just so…so worried about all of this."
"Don't worry, Skitts," Itey replied somberly, not really knowing what Skittery had planned but more than willing to play along (the trick was being as vague as possible). "We can get through all of this together, I promise. I know I'll do anything in my power to get us through this."
"I know you will, but…but what if that's not enough?" Skittery answered in mock-quietness, looking quite anxious, "This has never happened to any guy ever before. What if I die? Or it doesn't turn out right? And I'll probably be in all the tabloids...oh god. I don't want to be known as the guy who got pregnant for the rest of my life."
Itey chuckled silently to himself as the entire class did a collective eye roll and turned back around in their seats. "You'd think eventually they'd just stop listening to us all together."
"I know, but stupid people never learn," Skittery responded loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "In all honesty it's pretty pathetic, but what are you going to do?"
Itey stopped laughing but held on to his smirk. "You know," he told Skittery conspiratorially, "If we keep this up I think they're eventually going to form an angry mob and come to both our houses wielding pitchforks and torches."
"Nah," Skittery brushed off almost immediately, "Do cows ever form angry, blood-thirsty mobs? You have to have at least one person with at least a minor hint of intelligence in order to make that type of thing happen. I think we're safe."
"We got really off-topic," Itey pointed out. "What about the whole…how did you say it? …The whole…'mmm…situation', I believe it was. So? What about it? I completely missed anything you were trying to secretly explain while you got pregnant."
"I was just asking if I was convincing enough. You know, if I was acting normal or not," Skittery explained, talking normally and thus not attracting anyone else's attention but Itey's. "I've never actually kept a secret before."
"Don't tell me things like that," Itey demanded, his worry about other people finding out about everything and Sean killing them because of it increasing by at least six hundred percent. "I'm already worrying way more than I should be."
"Just relax," Skittery advised, "Try not to think about it too much. Just imagine you're in one of those gay situations playing one of those retarded interactive games."
"This is hardly a 'gay situation'. Now, you, on your knees, in front of me? That's a gay situation, and one I'd very much enjoy being apart of," Itey replied jokingly, mainly attempting to get their conversation off of Sean.
"Anytime, babe, all you have to do is name the time and place," Skittery promised. "However, that was not the type of 'gay' I was trying to convey. I was thinking more along the lines of the slang word 'gay', meaning lame and stupid."
Itey laughed, "Do you even realize how offensive you are? And even to yourself, too. Though, I guess I shouldn't really be saying anything because I do it too, but still…doesn't it seem at least a little bit like self-hate."
"It might seem like it, but I can assure you I love myself way too much to hate myself," Skittery replied. "And before you even ask, no, I do not have any sort of love-hate relationship with myself."
"Ah well, as long as you're sure," Itey told him.
"So? Do you think I'm acting enough like myself? I mean, if you didn't know about Sean and I did, would you be suspicious that I knew something you didn't? Or could you not tell?" Skittery asked, jumping right back into the original topic.
"I think it's pretty convincing," Itey assured without much thought put into it, "And I'd like to think I know you pretty damn well; if I can't tell there's no way Sean's going to be able to realize something's going on."
Something was definitely going on; Spot could tell.
A lot of the time he could tell something was wrong or someone was plotting just on instincts alone, but this time there was so much more evidence than just that.
He saw Obnoxious Fag One and Obnoxious Fag Two hanging out with Annoying Art Fag and Naive Fool 1, which was something that he had never witnessed happening before.
He saw Naïve Fool going out to the parking lot during second period (which made it the second time it happened within a couple of days) even though his sources claimed that What's-His-Name didn't do that sort of thing.
The Obnoxious Fags had kept giving him strange looks when they were sure no one else was looking.
All of this added up to the fact that Spot was probably going to have to bribe people, threaten people, and/or kill people. And, of course, everything had to become so much more of a pain in the ass because he didn't have all the facts.
…Actually, he didn't have any facts at all, just instincts and assumptions. Admittedly, he had acted on worse things, but he knew that it'd probably be a bad idea to do something drastic when he wasn't really all that sure.
Of course, he had arrived to all these conclusions during the very beginnings of third period, which at least slightly explained why he was here instead of his actual fourth period class.
He wasn't in his regular Calculus class today (well, why the hell would he be when he was in risk of being found out?). Instead, he was in some stupid ass physics class, doing a very good job of blending in and pretending he belonged there.
Spot smirked slightly as soon as two of the three Musketeers sat in front of him without even noticing his presence just as he had expected them to.
"Who the hell did you tell?" Spot asked them in a neutral voice. "I feel it my obligation to tell you that your life depends on your honest answer."
"We didn't tell anyone about anything." Blink snapped without an ounce of fear in his voice before turning around in his seat to face Spot. "And there's no way you're going to kill us; you kill one of us and the other two will tell."
"Because I'm sure it's going to be so difficult to kill three high school juniors," Spot replied sarcastically.
"But apparently we told someone, so that person's going to tell, too; good luck finding out who they are," Blink answered with slight sarcasm and triple the annoyance. "We didn't do anything; just leave us alone."
"No, someone told someone and that someone told another someone," Spot narrated. "And who the hell knows how many people those two are going to tell. Do you not realize you both are liabilities? Even if you had cooperated it would've been a better idea to kill you, but now you won't even follow the rules."
"I told Itey," Mush answered with some shame.
"You what?" Blink asked right away. "Why? And why the hell didn't you tell me you told him? And…and why? We promised each other we wouldn't tell anyone else. What was going through your head?"
"I was feeling so overwhelmed…with Racetrack and Sean and everything," Mush tried to explain, "I just…I just thought that it'd be nice to have someone to talk to about it."
"And it never occurred to you that we could talk about it?" Blink asked angrily, "What made you think you and I couldn't talk about it together? Wouldn't that have been so much easier? And now…now who knows what the hell's going to happen to us."
"I'm sorry," Mush apologized to Blink before turning to Sean and begging forgiveness. "Where did Sean go?" he asked when he discovered someone else was sitting in the seat Sean had previously occupied.
"Probably off to think about what the best way to kill us is," Blink answered, "This is so, so, so bad. We have to think of some way to tell Racetrack."
"Are you sure it's okay to sit with you again?" David asked even as he went to sit down next to Bumlets. "I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable or anything like that."
"It's fine Davey," Bumlets assured him, "Skittery decided that he likes you again, therefore Itey likes you again too; if anyone's going to get chased off it's going to be Specs."
"But I don't want that either," David claimed. "I feel bad. Specs and I were pretty much the only friend either of us had. Now that we had a fight I don't want to chase him away from a potential friend."
"It's not you chasing him off, David, that's Skittery's and Itey's job," Bumlets told him, "And they would do it whether you were sitting with us or not, that's just how they are."
"Are you sure?" David asked even though it looked as though he had made up his mind to sit with the druggies again today.
"You need to stop worrying about other people so much; Specs can take care of himself," Bumlets replied, "And all your worrying is going to give you an ulcer or something pretty soon."
"David's getting an ulcer?" Skittery asked as soon as he sat down with Itey following suit right beside him. "I totally knew it; that's what you get for being all nice and worrying about people."
"Oh, yes," Itey agreed sarcastically, "Surely being a complete jackass is a lot healthier for someone's blood pressure."
"Hey guys," Dutchy greeted happily, "Where's Sean?"
"Still not over your crush?" Skittery asked right away, "He doesn't like you Dutch…I'm sorry, but that's the truth. In fact, yesterday I even saw him fucking Bumlets in the janitor's closest."
Dutchy immediately looked towards Bumlets with betrayal in his eyes.
"I can't believe you still believe his bullshit," Bumlets responded, rolling his eyes. "So are we going to have to put up with Specs today?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know," Dutchy replied, sitting down at their table. "We were hanging out yesterday and kind of got into it. I mean, it wasn't really a fight-fight, but…it wasn't exactly…uh…a…um…nice conversation."
"You didn't tell him that you liked him, did you? Because I think Davey over here could tell you what a bad idea that is. Am I right, Davey?" Skittery asked, looking over at David with a grin on his face.
David smiled back, albeit a little hesitantly (wondering if there was an insult coming his way anytime soon). "Well…it definitely isn't something I would advise people to do."
"But it worked out all well and good, right? I mean, you've got Bumlets for a gay fuck-buddy now, right? Things couldn't have turned out too bad for you," Itey said. "Of course, I guess that kind of depends on how many times Sean actually has fucked Bumlets senseless in the janitor's closest, huh?"
"Why would I be fucking Bumlets senseless in the janitor's closest?" Spot asked before casting a glance over to Itey and Skittery and sitting down.
"Oh…" Itey stumbled, clearly having his composure stolen away from him for what could have been the first time in his life. "Well…you know…we were just…uh…"
"He's just so pretty, isn't he?" Skittery spoke up, trying to cover up the fact that Itey didn't seem to be able to talk correctly. "I mean, who wouldn't want to be fucking Bumlets senseless in the janitor's closet, right? I know I would."
"Excuse me!" Itey exclaimed, now having more of a grip on the conversation. "What about me?"
"You can fuck him senseless after I'm done," Skittery offered, "I refuse to take sloppy seconds."
"You jerk, I thought we said we wouldn't insult each other," Itey replied with mock-hurt. "And now you're telling everyone you'd leave me for Bumlets if given the chance."
"Oh, honey, no," Skittery cooed as he hugged Itey's head to his chest, "It was just a joke…a stupid, idiotic joke that wasn't even very funny. I promise I'd never leave you for Bumlets. Believe me, if there was a janitor's closet with Bumlets waiting for me to fuck him senseless and janitor's closest with you waiting for to fuck you senseless…baby, I would choose you every time."
"Really?" Itey asked, giving a fake sniffle.
"Absolutely," Skittery answered with conviction, "No matter what."
"Can we get off the topic of someone fucking me senseless?" Bumlets asked as he rolled his eyes.
"God, David, you really are going out with Bumlets, aren't you?" Specs asked as he came up to the table with his lunch tray just in time to hear Bumlets' last uttered sentence. "Didn't you have a crush on me…like…yesterday? You gays sure are flaky."
"Go to hell, Specs," David answered immediately, "I never had a god damned crush on you; get over yourself."
Bumlets smirked at David's progress.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Skittery asked. "Didn't we scare you off yesterday?"
"Were our insults not enough of a hint that we don't like you?" Itey backed, "Because, seriously, we don't like you."
"Last time I checked I could sit wherever I damned well pleased," Specs retorted. "Plus, I'm here at Dutchy's invitation, right Dutch?"
"You know, I don't really remember that," Dutchy answered, "But then again I can be such a flake on account of how tremendously gay I am."
"Oh come on, I didn't mean you," Specs replied, "Lighten up."
"Then whom were you talking about?" Skittery jumped right in. "Were you talking about Sean?" he asked, hoping just a little bit to get Sean angry at Specs (maybe then the fucker would finally leave them alone).
"Sean's not gay," Specs answered without even thinking about it, "You're full of shit as always."
"I used to be," Sean spoke up sarcastically, not really liking Specs any more than Skittery or Itey, "But then I heard that all gays were flakes, and since I don't think I'm a flake…well…now I'm just confused."
David and Specs' eyes widened a fraction, "Seriously?"
"It's in stereo," Skittery interrupted, "Sweet."
"Well I'd have to be to be fucking Bumlets in the janitor's closet," Sean replied in slight impatience.
"What? When the fuck did that happen?" Specs asked, turning to David. "Jesus, not only are you gays flakes; you're whores, too."
"Uh…what?" Dutchy asked right away, standing up. "You better take that back before you get the shit kicked out of you."
"Relax, Dutchy, I'll be fine," Specs brushed off, "I know you're all concerned about some gay getting pissed off enough to come after me, but you really have nothing to worry about; gays can't fight for shit."
Dutchy was about ready to punch him, but to everyone's surprise David beat him to it.
"David!" a shocked teacher who was patrolling shouted out as soon as it happened. "Get yourself to the principal's office…NOW," she called out before steering Specs towards the nurse's office.
"Woo-hoo! Way to go David!" Skittery stood up and exclaimed loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear. "We should totally hang out today after school; you can show Itey and me some of your fighting moves, man."
Itey rose from his seat as well, "Yeah! And afterwards, if you want, we're open to a threesome. I mean, if you're into that sort of thing. Hey, Bumlets can come along too; we don't mind foursomes at all."
"Hell," Skittery continued, "Bring your sister; we can make it into a full-blown orgy."
"Perverts!" Sarah yelled from across the cafeteria in response to Skittery and Itey's shouts.
"I thought you cancelled," Swifty said sulkily from his seat in the very empty library.
"Yeah, well, I had a feeling you'd be here anyway and decided to try and drop in on you," Jack replied before sitting down beside his friend. "And it's not like I cancelled because I hate you or anything. I just didn't think I could come because I had to make up a test."
Swifty sighed, not believing him for even a second, "What test, Jack? Because you haven't stayed home sick for years and teachers never give C-average students a chance to make up a test they failed."
Jack grinned with a little hesitation, "Alright, so that was kind of a bad lie; I admit it. Really it was just lack of imagination on my part. Well, that and the fact that I was rushed for time since I thought the next time I'd see you would be tomorrow at the very earliest. I couldn't think of any other excuse."
"Is the real reason something that I can't handle then?" Swifty asked sarcastically. "It's not as if I didn't already notice that something was off. So what's up? Masson doesn't want you associating with me, right? You could have just told me that when I asked you if I had been blacklisted. Honestly, I don't care about those guys anymore. You don't have to worry about hurting my feelings or anything, okay?"
"Like I've ever worried about hurting your feelings," Jack laughed. "It wasn't like that…not really. Look, when you asked I didn't know so I thought it was ridiculous. Then I was talking to Masson today and he was complaining about you and I thought it'd be best to not disagree with him. Then right after that he asked to play some basketball during lunch and I didn't know what to say so I just agreed. When it turned out he had some other stuff to do I decided to try looking for you."
"Uh…right…so I'm not really blacklisted, but I might as well be, does that sound about right?" Swifty responded harshly before taking a bit of his sandwich.
"Well…yeah, I guess. But, if it helps anything, it has less to do with the fact that you picture Masson naked and more to do with the fact that you were hanging out with the druggies yesterday…as much sense as that makes," Jack answered.
"I do not picture him naked," Swifty snapped, not really all that mad.
Jack smirked, "You can be honest with me, okay? If you're a fag I can learn to accept that."
"Ha ha ha. Shut the fuck up, Jack," Swifty retorted, keeping up his fake-anger.
Jack stole Swifty's bag of chips and tore them open, trying to ignore the awkwardness the silence forced in.
"Sooo…we're pretty much just not going to be friends anymore, huh?" Swifty asked, ignoring the fact that he no longer had his chips (he didn't really like that kind anyway).
"'Course we will, man," Jack replied evenly and without hesitation, "'Friends forever' and all that shit, remember? Just because we were like, twelve when we promised each other that doesn't make it any less true."
"Yeah, tell that to all of our other friends we had at twelve that we never talk to anymore," Swifty scoffed. "I don't have a problem with the truth, Jack. And I know that never hanging out at school will quickly become never hanging out after school, which will quickly turn into us never talking to each other again."
"Oh, it will not," Jack replied while still munching on the chips. "I promise I will be available to hang out with you whenever, okay? We'll just make the extra effort not to lose touch."
Swifty rolled his eyes, "You're delusional, Jack; things don't work like that."
"What do you want me to do, huh?" Jack finally snapped, "Stop acting all pathetic and pitiful and help me think of a plan so we can still hang out. Pessimism isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Neither is a plan," Swifty answered. "Look, Jack, I made my decision and I know it's unfair to make you pick between me and everyone else, okay? I never planned on doing that and I promise I won't. But at the same time I'm not going to fill you with false reassurances. We can hang out whenever you want, I swear, but you have to realize that whether you like it or not the fact that we aren't going to hang out at school anymore is the beginning of the end."
"So what are you saying? 'Might as well not even try and cut our ties now'? I mean, Jesus man, this was your choice (and a stupid choice, let me tell you) so why the hell do I have to suffer for it?" Jack asked.
"Fuck you," Swifty replied. "Don't tell me my decisions are shit. I explained everything to you the best I could, I tried to work through it, but I just can't. The entire fakeness of everyone, the fact that I feel like I always have to watch my back, watch what I say so the wrong people don't get angry, don't talk to certain people so my so-called friends won't look at me funny…it's all too fucking much. You know I've never liked that sort of thing. God, I don't know why you do. We have other choices, you know?"
"Yeah, sorry," Jack answered, looking slightly defeated. "Today's just been a shitty day. I guess I took it out on you and shit."
"S'fine," Swifty shrugged, "Just stop acting like a girl and I'll forgive you."
"I'm not, mother-fucker," Jack replied in pseudo-anger.
"Look," Swifty said just has the bell rang the end of lunch, "Why don't you come over to my place tonight? My parents aren't home and we can hang out without any threat of your friends finding out about it."
"Sure," Jack agreed, already starting to walk out, "I'll be there around five, alright? And I expect you to feed me."
"Can do," Swifty answered as he gathered up his stuff, waiting about ten seconds after Jack walked out to follow him.
"Yo," Skittery greeted before sitting down next to Blink in his American Studies class, "What's up, Little Dude?"
Blink practically killed him with his glare, "Do you know about Sean?"
"That depends," Skittery responded with hesitation, "What about Sean?"
"If you know what I'm talking about you then wouldn't have had to ask that question," Blink replied vaguely.
"Way to be creepy," Skittery congratulated, trying to lighten the mood.
"Did Itey tell you?" Blink asked, refusing to let it pass.
"Itey tells me a lot of things; to which thing are you referring?" Skittery replied.
"Stop dodging the question. Did Itey tell you about Sean or not? This is important," Blink said.
"Yeah, he told me," Skittery admitted, "But…uh…(let's see if I got this right because I've never been very good at keeping track of secrets)…you weren't supposed to know that he knew and Mush isn't supposed to know that I know…I think…right?"
"Probably," Blink replied with an edge to his voice. "God, I can't believe Mush told someone when he promised not to. Have you told anyone else?"
"Nope, my lips have been shut tight since receiving the information," Skittery answered, "And Itey assured me I haven't given anything away."
"Yeah, well, you two must have done something because Sean knows," Blink replied, "He came into Mush's and my Physics class and threatened us today (that's when I found out that Itey knew and apparently he had told someone else; I assumed that someone else was you)-"
"Naturally," Skittery interrupted.
"…Now, the only people who know about this is Mush, Itey, you, me, and Racetrack, except Racetrack doesn't know that you and Itey know or that Sean knows that you and Itey know. Unfortunately Mush and I can't talk to him because of this stupid thing with his mom so we can't warn him to keep his guard up around Sean so you and Itey are the ones that are going to have to tell him," Blink explained.
"What? No way," Skittery responded immediately, "I don't even know what the fuck you just told me. Not to mention I haven't talked to Racetrack in years and I'm pretty sure he'll be angry enough to kill me if he finds out I know whatever the fuck it is I'm supposed to know."
"He has to know," Blink insisted. "Do you know what's at stake here? Sean could kill him. I mean, Sean could actually really kill him."
"Hey, I didn't ask to be a part of this," Skittery argued, "I didn't decide that I had to know. I didn't sneak around until I knew what was going on. I was having a wonderful time just making fun of people when it just jumped on my back and started attacking. I don't want anything to do with this."
"We're in way over our heads," Blink pointed out. "We need help. Like, we need someone who knows what they're doing. We…we need to tell the police…or our parents…or…"
"Hell no," Skittery answered immediately. "Are you serious with this? If we go to the police then he really will kill us. And what the hell could the police do anyway? They'll probably just assume we're playing a joke. And even if they do believe us they'll need to get proof before they can do anything."
"Maybe if we just talk to Sean…tell him we won't tell anyone else," Blink rattled on.
"Yeah, because he'll believe you again," Skittery answered. "What do you think he's going to do? Promise not to kill us if we tell him it's just some kind of misunderstanding? And even is he does promise do you think you'll actually believe him? Didn't you have ample time to get used to this? Why are you freaking out now?"
"Because…I don't know…it just didn't feel real before, I guess," Blink replied. "I mean, I guess I just thought that…he didn't mean it or…something. But then, I mean, how long have you known? A day? How the hell could he have figured it out that fast? Is he really paying that close of attention to us? I mean…it's scary."
"…And slightly stalker-ish," Skittery mused.
"Do you really think he'll kill us?"
"I hope not."
"Will you tell Racetrack? I'll let you slip in an eye patch joke."
"Yeah…I'll tell him," Skittery grumbled. "And I'm saving that one-eye joke for when we're in a room with a lot of people, so as to get ample embarrassment. I think I deserve it."
"Hey," Itey greeted with some hesitation. "Skittery told me that Sean knows about you and us. Apparently Blink confronted him last class; he told me during the period break."
"Yeah," Mush answered. "I shouldn't have told you. Now Blink's mad at me and I put us all in more danger; it was stupid. I guess I just needed someone to talk to, you know? And I didn't think that Sean would ever find out."
"I'm sorry I told Skittery," Itey replied.
"I can't really be the one to complain about telling people things you shouldn't," Mush said. "It's fine; I understand why you wanted to."
"It'll be fine," Itey assured him. "You wouldn't believe the shit that Skittery gets out of on a regular basis. I don't know how he does it, but people just let him off the hook all the time. (I guess he has one of those faces you just can't crush or something.) Anyway, I'm sure Sean will feel the same way."
"Things have just been so messed up," Mush complained, "I can't talk to Racetrack, Blink's mad at me, Sean's…I don't even want to know what Sean's planning on doing to me."
"Well, there's no use worrying about it, right?" Itey replied. "God," he muttered mainly to himself, "I really suck at trying to make people feel better. '…No use worrying about it'? I mean, seriously, what the hell?"
"Do you and Skittery want to go see the Nutcracker on Saturday with me and Blink? Assuming that Blink still wants to go and everyone's still alive?" Mush asked, consciously changing the subject.
"Uh…sure…yeah…I mean…I'll have to ask Skittery first, but…I guess…we don't have anything else better to do," Itey answered, a little caught off-guard by the dramatic change in conversation.
"Yeah, I have to ask Blink if he even still wants to come," Mush replied, "I guess I couldn't really blame him if he decided that never talking to me again was the best idea he ever had."
"Yeah, well…I couldn't…definitely not," Itey assured him. "Skittery and I'll be there, alright? And if I know Skittery he'll bring Blink along with ease if I tell him to. He has a way of convincing people of doing what he wants, you know? Well, actually, that's a lie. It's more like he bothers you so much you'll do whatever he wants just to shut him up, but it's approximately the same thing, right?"
"Right," Mush laughed before continuing on more somberly, "You don't have to go through all that trouble. I don't want to force Blink to come if he doesn't want to. I'll ask and if he says 'no' I'll just have to deal with it.
Spot walked into his gym class less than enthused to be there. Unfortunately he couldn't skip out early because he was waiting for Racetrack's money and he couldn't go outside and smoke because he had run out of cigarettes (and what a hell of a time it was for that to happen). The library was being watched over by the librarian who had required a note from his teacher of the period in order for him to be in there (he had already tried and failed to talk her out of the note). He really had nothing better to do for forty-five minutes than go to class.
"Came back, huh? …Really not a good idea. Masson's been irritated all day today and chances are he's going to take it out on you," some dweeby kid advised as soon as Spot had walked into the gym. "I mean, last time you fought…that was pretty good on your part…I mean, you should be proud and stuff…but Masson was hardly giving it his all. In other words, I would skip if I were you."
Spot rolled his eyes before smirking. "I think I can handle myself."
"Fine with me, man," the kid answered back right away, " 'S your funeral at any rate. Do me a favor and make it mildly entertaining though, alright?"
"Hey, if it's not the kid who wouldn't wrestle," Masson announced right on cue as three guys came into position behind him. "I'm surprised to see you back here; didn't picture you as a stupid kid."
"Same to you," Spot answered, "Well, I did picture you as a stupid kid, I just didn't picture you being this stupid. You need to watch who you picks fights with before it gets you killed."
"Oh? Big words coming from such a little guy," one of Masson's cronies replied.
"Want us to pound him into the ground? Because I promise that it'll be our pleasure to do so," another crony backed up.
Spot rolled his eyes again. "You really don't know what you're getting into and I've had a really crappy couple of days," he said before beginning to walk away, yet again deciding that gym was worse than he remembered it.
"Ooh…looks like the little fag is running away, huh?" the boy on Masson's right jeered.
"Well we wouldn't want the big kids to beat him up, would we?" the boy next to him answered with sarcasm.
Spot gave a silent snort, not even turning around. "Picking a fight with you is like picking a fight with a two year old girl. I'll do a lot of things, but I just can't allow myself to engage in a fight with absolutely no challenge at all."
"Come on," Masson growled to his friends before starting to follow Sean out the gym door. "We're kicking this little fag's ass. He needs to learn who runs things around here."
Spot tried not to groan when he realized the complete morons from gym were following him. He really didn't feel like getting in a fight where he'd have to hold back but he couldn't afford to just let go and beat the shit out of all four of them.
"Hey," Masson called out before shoving Sean into some nearby lockers. "Do you not get that you're just some stupid little kid here? Seriously, man, I'd say you were the stupidest fuck I'd ever meant. Are you really trying to start shit with me just to back out at the last minute? I'd say that makes you a pussy, boy."
"Fuck it all," Spot grumbled to himself before punching Masson in the gut.
"So do you still want to go to the Nutcracker on Saturday?" Mush asked Blink timidly in the middle of their German class. "I understand if you don't, or if you don't want me to go (that's fine too), but I asked Itey and it seems as if he and Skittery are probably going to go so…"
"I know you didn't tell on purpose or anything," Blink said, "Well, I mean, obviously you knew what you were doing, but…look…uh…I'm still mad at you and everything and I still don't really understand why you did it when you could have just talked to me. I'm still angry at you for telling someone when you promised you wouldn't and I'm a little upset that you felt like you couldn't talk to me about whatever you were worrying about, but…I know you're a good friend and that you had the best of intentions and all of that. I just…give me some time, all right?"
"Yeah," Mush replied sadly, "Whatever you need."
"Look," Blink added as soon as Mush's guilt-ridden face made him feel guilty as well, "Why don't you save me a seat there? I don't…I'm not promising to come or anything, but let's just keep the option open, okay?"
"I'm sorry," Mush answered, looking only slightly better. "I know it was all my fault and I…I'm so sorry."
"Yeah well you should have…" Blink faltered in the beginnings of his tirade. "Everyone makes mistakes, right? And that's all it was. Don't…don't be so hard on yourself. I love you, Mush, I really do, and I promise that's not going to change, just…let me get a grip on everything that's happening right now, okay?"
Mush nodded his head in agreement, "I love you too, Blink, and I promise I never meant for any of this to happen."
Before Blink could decide to fill in the awkward silence with more awkward communication a loud crash came from the hallway followed by muttered but clear "Fuck."
Blink and Mush exchanged glances before following the rest of the class rushing for the hallway to see what the commotion was all about.
Immediately upon seeing the circle and hearing the beginning of the chant "Fight, fight, fight," going around the room Blink hopped up onto Mush's shoulder's, trying to get a better look.
"Sean's being double teamed by the Delancy brothers," Blink narrated for Mush. "He's got Morris in a headlock while Oscar looks to be recovering from a punch in the stomach…or a kick in the stomach, I'm not quite sure," he explained as quickly as possible. "And Oscar's back up, but Sean saw it coming and he's already thrown Morris away from him. He keeps dodging Oscar's punches. He just punched Oscar in the face. Ow, that has to hurt. His nose definitely does not look right. And here comes Morris again…"
"Where's Masson?" Mush asked as if just realizing that the Delancy brother's wouldn't engage in a fight without Masson's consent.
"Already passed out. Jack's there too, looking a little winded but not too bad. Ouch, Sean just got tripped and then kicked. But he's already back up. Wow, the kid's got some good reaction time," Blink continued to narrate.
"Are you sure we really want Sean to win?" Mush asked with hesitance.
Blink shrugged from on top of his shoulders. "Sure. I mean, Sean's just threatened me; the Delancy brothers have been teasing us our entire lives. Ooh, the second Delancy's down caused by an elbow in the side. Dodge and jab; now that's real fighting style."
"Are you sure we should be complimenting him?" Mush asked again.
"We're not thinking about any of that now," Blink answered, turning more serious. "Right now we're just enjoying watching a kid that can finally take both Delancy brothers out at once. Uh-oh, Jack's come into play; they're circling. Jack's jumped him! They're on the floor…lots of punches… Lift me up higher; I can't see. Shit…teacher…never mind, put me down; let's get back to class."
"I would have totally had you," Jack grumbled as soon as they were made to wait in the office.
"No, you wouldn't have," Spot answered, "Plus, you came in right after a kicked three other guys' asses; if you were any good you would have taken care of me easily."
"I was holding back," Jack explained with a grin.
"Yeah? So was I," Spot replied as he smirked right back.
"So…uh…how much trouble do you think we're in? I doubt we could say that we were just messing around and I really can't afford to get into too much trouble," Jack explained, taking on a more serious expression.
Spot gave a slight nod of agreement.
"Acting all chummy with each other might be a good idea," Jack mused, "That way they'll think we won't start another fight. We definitely have to act sorry. We can just say we were fighting over a girl. I mean, I know you don't swing that way, but…"
"Fighting over a girl," Spot repeated, cutting off Jack to save him from rambling like a moron. "Fine."
"Do you think we'll get out of here soon? I kind of had plans right after school," Jack said after a few seconds pause.
Spot shrugged.
"You're an awesome conversationalist," Jack commented. "Are you worried about the trouble we're going to get into?"
"I've been through worse," Spot answered.
"Yeah? You been in a lot of fights then? You're pretty good for a midget," Jack replied.
Spot smirked, "You're pretty good for a gay wrestler."
"What the hell is it with people and thinking I'm gay all of a sudden?" Jack asked, feigning anger. "It's not like I go around hitting on guys or anything. What about me is gay?"
"It'd be easier to ask what about you is straight," Spot replied with a smirk.
"Mr. Conlon, Mr. Kelly," the principal called from his office, "We're ready for you."
"Hey," Racetrack greeted Sean as soon as he saw him exit the building. "I saw the fight. How much trouble did you get into?"
"Minimal," Spot answered, "A few detentions. Do you have something for me?"
"Uh…yeah," Racetrack replied, fishing around in his pocket for the fifty dollars. "Here," he said, handing it over in a wad, "You can count that; it should all be there."
"When am I coming over?" Spot asked distractedly as he looked the money over.
"About fix o'clock on Saturday," Racetrack responded, "Miraculously my mom said 'yes' when I asked her about it. Now all we have to do is try and get out of the house."
"Fine," Spot agreed before starting to walk away. "I'll see you then."
"Oh, make sure to take that same car again, alright?" Racetrack asked, following Spot to his motorcycle.
"Don't worry; I know what I'm doing," Spot answered. "Oh, and here," he said, handing over a piece of paper, "This is where you're going to take your car if you want it repaired on the house. Just ask for Gadget or Speed…one of them should be there."
"Is this legit?" Racetrack asked as he eyed the card.
"Very," Spot replied as he rolled his eyes. "Now if that's it…"
"Is it true you're gay?" Racetrack asked bluntly. "I heard Specs mumbling about how he couldn't believe you were a fag during the fight," he explained without hesitation.
Spot smirked, "What? You couldn't tell? God, people from Manhattan have the shittiest gaydar. Just because I don't have limp wrists and talk with a lisp doesn't mean I'm not gay."
"How the hell did you actually become a gang leader when you're gay?" Racetrack asked.
Spot shrugged, not seeming very concerned, "Not many people know, so I would keep it to yourself while in Brooklyn."
"Yeah," Racetrack agreed quietly as Spot drove off.
1 In case you didn't get the references… (Don't worry you don't have to remember them for the quiz)
Obnoxious Fag One – Skittery/Itey
Obnoxious Fag Two – Skittery/Itey
Annoying Art Fag – Kid Blink
Naïve Fool – Mush
I know I haven't reviewed in awhile and I'm terribly sorry about that. On the upside, look at how long this chapter is! Over 12000 words. Holy shit, right? Also, I've got chapter 14 done (all I need to do is edit it some) and chapter 15 is well on it's way (it's being written in my head even as we speak).
Again, I apologize for the super slow update. Real life's a bitch, you know?
Truthfully the only reason I started in on the story again was because I was reading past reviews so you have yourselves to thank for this chapter. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, reviewers, without you this chapter might have never came to be. Please, keep it up.
Until next time, my darlings,
- Please Don't Hold Back